For me, a poem is an opportunity to kind of interrogate myself a little bit. See in what ways I’m complicated by situations like that, or even — I don’t know — like somehow connected to in ways that might be uncomfortable.

NewsHour also pulled from a few of the journalism Pulitzer winners’ reports — highlighting reporters’ exemplary coverage and providing viewers with some additional on-the-ground perspective.

For investigative reporting, the Pulitzer board took notice of an Associated Press team including Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley, for their investigation into the New York Police Department’s “clandestine spying program that monitored daily life in Muslim communities.”

Sara Ganim and members of the Harrisburg, Pa., Patriot-News staff were awarded the local reporting Pulitzer for “courageously revealing and adeptly covering the explosive Penn State sex scandal involving former football coach Jerry Sandusky.”

Our friends at California Watch in Berkeley, Calif., also received recognition from the Pulitzer board in the local reporting category as finalists for their multimedia storytelling and “rigorous probe of deficient earthquake protection in the construction of public schools.”

Anna Werner’s report, jointly produced by the Center for Investigative Reporting’s California Watch and KQED, aired on the April 11, 2011, broadcast.